Music

The Muppets didn’t just appear at the FIFA World Cup Final Halftime show on Sunday — some of them also made an appearance at Noah Kahan’s concert at Citi Field in Queens, New York, that night.

During various tour stops Noah has been taking onstage “phone calls” from different people, like his mom and various sports stars, who then appear on the stadium video screen. Sunday night it was Elmo and Cookie Monster, who Noah introduced as “some friends who live here in this area.”

“Wow, look at all those people! Hi, everybody!” yelled Elmo. “Hi Noah, me just wanted to know if you sang ‘Cookie Season’ yet,” added Cookie Monster. 

“It’s ‘Stick Season,’ Cookie Monster!” scolded Elmo. “Oh, right. Sorry,” the blue furry creature replied.

“We wanted to call and wish you a great concert,” Elmo continued. “We’re very proud of you, and we hope that you’re proud of yourself, too.”

“Yeah, what about ‘She Calls Me Cookie’?” asked Cookie Monster. “No, it’s ‘She Calls Me Back,'” explained Elmo. “Oh. Well, Noah, if you ever need a cookie, just call me back!” Cookie added. Elmo signed off by saying, “We love you, Noah. Have a great show!”

But the Muppets weren’t the only special guests at the show: During the song “End of August,” Noah brought out Aaron Dessner, who co-produced Noah’s album The Great Divide. Aaron posted footage of the moment on his Instagram Story. “@NoahKahan you’re frickin incredible,” he captioned the video.

As previously reported, Noah was forced to cancel the first of two planned shows at Citi Field due to inclement weather. The tour’s next stop is Washington, D.C., on July 22.

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On This Day, July 20, 1975…

Ahead of the release of his third studio album, Born to Run, Bruce Springsteen launched a new tour at the Palace Theater in Providence, Rhode Island.

The show marked Steve Van Zandt’s first official gig as a member of The E Street Band and also the live debut of the future classic “Tenth Avenue Freeze-Out.” Other songs in the set included “Born to Run,” “Thunder Road,” “Rosalita” and more.

Born to Run was released August 25, 1975, and peaked at #3 on the Billboard 200 Albums chart. It has gone on to be considered one of the greatest albums of all time and has been certified seven-times Platinum by the RIAA.

Van Zandt is still a member of The E Street Band, although he left in 1984 shortly before the Born in the U.S.A. tour. He returned when Springsteen reunited the group in 1995 after a six-year breakup.

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Limp Bizkit definitely got into some shenanigans during their performance at the Summer of ’99 and Beyond Festival over the weekend.

The set featured a surprise appearance by the cast of Super Troopers 3, the upcoming threequel to the 2001 cult comedy.

As seen in video posted to the Super Troopers Instagram, the cast members showed up onstage in full costume while telling the crowd they were there to shut the show down. While Fred Durst maintains he and the Bizkit haven’t broken any laws, a trooper then discovers a comically large bag of weed hidden near the drums. 

Eventually, Limp Bizkit and the Super Troopers come to a truce and decide to rock “Break Stuff” together.

Super Troopers 3 hits theaters Aug. 7.

Limp Bizkit, meanwhile, will be back onstage in the U.S. in September to headline the Louder than Life festival.

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Nearly all of the Spice Girls were together on Saturday as Sporty Spice — Melanie “Mel C” Chisholm — married her boyfriend Chris Dingwall during a ceremony in England’s Lake District, Vogue reports.

Mel’s bandmates Melanie “Mel B” Brown (Scary Spice), Emma Bunton (Baby Spice) and Geri Halliwell Horner (Ginger Spice) attended the wedding. Victoria “Posh Spice” Beckham was busy at the World Cup Final in the U.S., though she was present in spirit: Mel wore dresses designed by her in both of her wedding ceremonies.

“I was actually having dinner with Melanie and asked her what she was up to,” Victoria told Vogue. “She very casually told me she was leaving for Australia in two days and getting married!”

Mel and Chris, who is Australian, had a legal ceremony in Australia ahead of Saturday’s event. While Mel has a teenage daughter from a previous relationship, this marks her first marriage.

Victoria explained, “When I asked what she was wearing, [Melanie] mentioned she had actually ordered one of my dresses but that it didn’t quite fit, and she didn’t have time to get it altered before leaving. I happened to have that exact dress in my own wardrobe and offered to lend it to her.”

“Victoria’s dress was my something borrowed. It was very special, having her there,” Melanie told Vogue of the legal ceremony.

For Saturday’s event, Victoria offered to make Melanie “her dream dress.” Inspired by the original design, the gown featured more lace, a different color, different back and a train.

“Victoria was so excited about being able to do this for me, and having her and [my daughter] Scarlet there… every step of the way has been very special,” Melanie says. “Plus, I just love her clothes.”

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Artists including Hole’s Courtney Love, Rage Against the Machine’s Tom Morello and Garbage have paid tribute to late L7 bassist Jennifer Finch.

The “Pretend We’re Dead” outfit announced late Saturday night that Finch, 59, had died, just days after it was announced she’d been diagnosed with an aggressive form of brain cancer.

Love, who previously called Finch “a founder of … one of the most important bands in history,” posted an image of Finch to her Instagram.

Morello left a comment on L7’s post announcing Finch’s death. It reads, “God bless her. An important fixture of the LA scene, a super cool person, a true artist with a kind and welcoming heart. I loved, respected and admired her greatly. She will be missed.”

“Rest in power beautiful Jennifer Finch,” reads a post to Garbage’s Instagram. “I’m so relieved to know you are no longer suffering. Our sincere condolences to @l7theband and everyone who ever loved you. Family, fans, friends and fellows. This is a terrible loss for music and our musical community.”

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Most artists these days follow up a new album with a deluxe edition featuring bonus tracks, and Gracie Abrams is no exception — though she’s chosen a different approach to releasing hers.

“Hey SURPRISE Daughter from Hell (Bonus Tracks) with OUT OF NOWHERE and LOVE LETTER will be available to download tonight at 6pm PT on iTunes for a limited time if you can believe it,” Gracie wrote Sunday on social media, alongside teaser clips of each song.

“I’m so moved to hear from those of you who are connecting with the record so far,” she continued. “Really truly your messages have made my heart grow ten sizes. Fingers crossed you enjoy these too. I personally love them very much.”

Some fans weren’t happy about the iTunes exclusivity, however. One wrote, “Boooooo I’m not going to buy the album AGAIN for two songs. Ugh I hate this, this is not cool dude.” Another wrote, “You have to buy the entire album… Gracie that’s low. Why the money grab? Please release it on Spotify!”

A third fan wrote, “Not fair to the people who already bought the whole album 2 days ago. Now you expect us to buy the entire album again for 2 songs? Not cool. At least give the people who already bought it earlier the opportunity to complete their album with the 2 new songs.”

The original version of Daughter From Hell arrived July 17. The album includes “What If It’s Right?” featuring Marcus Mumford from Mumford & Sons and “Imaginary Friend,” which Gracie wrote her boyfriend, Paul Mescal.

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Jelly Roll is reflecting on one of the most meaningful moments of his career, after shooting the music video for “Hands Up.”

The autobiographical piece was filmed inside San Quentin Rehabilitation Center in San Francisco and features him performing alongside incarcerated musicians.

Arriving at the prison while reciting a prayer in voiceover, Jelly Roll joins a group of inmates holding instruments. Later, he greets other incarcerated men in the prison canteen, shaking hands and performing with inmates as his backing band.

In a post shared on Instagram, Jelly Roll emphasized that the men featured in the video were “not actors.” He later described the experience as one of the most memorable moments of his career.

“Truly one of the most special things I’ve ever had the opportunity to do,” he wrote. “The moment my life truly changed is when I threw my hands up. I know a lot of folks will hear this and remember their ‘hands up’ moment as well.”

The Grammy-nominated artist, who has spoken publicly about his own past incarceration, said returning to a correctional facility carried deep personal meaning.

“I remember being in the same kind of place all these incarcerated guys are in,” he continued. “To get to do this with them is beyond words for me.”

The music video arrives amid Jelly Roll’s divorce from Bunnie Xo. He filed for divorce in May after 10 years of marriage.

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Coldplay debuted a new song called “We Dance” during Sunday’s FIFA World Cup 2026 Final Halftime Show.

Chris Martin and company were joined by the public elementary school chorus PS22, as well as various Muppets, including Miss Piggy and Sesame Street‘s Elmo and Cookie Monster.

The show, which was curated by Martin, also featured performances by Justin Bieber, Madonna, Shakira and BTS.

As impressive of a lineup as that may be, Liam Gallagher did not seem impressed. The Oasis vocalist reviewed the show on social media as, “This is like a bad trip,” adding, “It’s absolutely insane behavior it’s cuckoo with a capital K.”

Ahead of the show, The Cure frontman Robert Smith expressed his dismay in the very idea of a World Cup halftime show, tagging an Instagram post #pleasejustf***off.

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At the end of her concert Saturday night in Brooklyn, New York, Ariana Grande premiered the trailer for the video for “petal,” the title track of her new album. She later shared the teaser on Instagram.

The black-and-white clip shows Ariana holding an old-fashioned newspaper ad for a company called “Fame Inc.” which is auditioning stars for the “T.V. & film industry.” It continues, “Major Studios are calling for new faces who can follow directions and have a good personality.”

The teaser the cuts to Ariana’s feet, clad in high-heeled pumps, running across a cracked star on Hollywood Boulevard with a flower growing out of it. Next, a shadowy figure is shown smoking a cigarette as Ariana appears on a film set. The trailer concludes with the words, “PETAL, shot entirely on … VistaVision.”

VistaVision is a higher-resolution, widescreen movie format introduced in the 1950s that eventually fell out of favor. In recent years, however, it’s made a comeback, with The Brutalist, Wuthering Heights and One Battle After Another all using the format.

Ariana wrapped up her run of shows in Brooklyn on Sunday night. During the final show, she performed an a cappella version of “Be Alright,” a song from her album Dangerous Woman, for the first time this tour.

“new york, you have my heart always … brooklyn, i am emotional ! thank you for five beautiful shows,” she wrote on Instagram. “i love you, i love new york, i love this show, i love our eternal sunshine tour family, and again, you, you, you… with all my heart always.”

petal will arrive July 31.

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